Loving this story arc. First I loved the fact that we were getting more story on Orphan. Then we got the League of Assassins and now Ra's Al Ghul. I can't wait for the next issue. Another great part of this issue was when Batman wouldn't fight back when Orphan fought him then she did the same with Shiva. Loved it. I really enjoyed the art in this issue. Clayface looked really good, scary yet you could still see the sadness he feels. Well done. Read Full Review

Gotham is on fire, the team is in disarray, the League of Shadows clearly has the upper hand. Batwing and Azrael are MIA, with Cassandra Cain being torn about who she really is. This is where we left off the last issue, can the team pull things together or will this hot dumpster fire consume Gotham? Read Full Review

Another rock solid romp. Action with depth, violence tempered with grace and spot on dialogue with character. I don't know if I'll have any nails left by the time issue #954 crash-lands into my inbox. This chapter gets a rip-roaring: Read Full Review

James Tynion keeps chugging along giving DC fans the team book to beat. Every character has their moments (mostly bad) and the issue ends with possibly an unlikely new member. The art was fantastic and I can easily recommend this to those already invested in the story. Read Full Review

Christian Duce (Justice League, Wonder Woman '77) and Fernando Blanco (Midnighter and Apollo, Army of Darkness) take full advantage of the chaos in the story to lay out three separate incredibly kinetic fights. Each fight is visually different in terms of layout and style but they all work together in service of the story. And they put Gordon in a Hawaiian shirt. Read Full Review

Overall, Detective Comics continues to be a really fun book for fans of the extended Bat Family. It is a book for the fans of the characters. Cassandra Cain is slowly becoming one of my favorite characters again because of this book, and considering I did not particularly care for her previous run, that is quite a feat. Read Full Review

A predictable, uninspiring stepping stone of an issue,Detective Comics #953 is written well enough and drawn competently enough to merit a read or two; but little actually happens, and generic plot points cannot sustain interest in the absence of more philosophical confrontations. If you've liked "League of Shadows", pick it up. But if you've been thinking about dropping, this one could be the last straw. Read Full Review

starts with Gordon coming back from vacation... in the middle of the attack on Gotham...
Batman and Batwoman tell him this is just a diversion for the real attack... Gordon thinks it is the Joker but they tell him it isn't...
then we see Batgirl ... thinking of Shiva and having memories.. looks like to when she was a kid being trained by her dad... the horrible way he raised her.. how she had hoped for a mother to love her...
this part seems off because she's much older in these memories that in what we know from her first appearances... but OK I guess....
there is a good couple pages where Clayface tries to console Cassandra a bit... gives her a book of Shakespeare that he says helped him learn to express himself a bit... she seems to appreciate it.. then he says that she can leave if she wants.. he'll just say she snuck out. she hugs him and leaves. he reports it in to Batman, and then a bunch of attackers arrive....
Batman tries to speak with Cassandra.. but she attacks. She wants to be called only Orphan now...
Alfred calls in just as Cassandra is beating the crap out of him... he says somethings feels wrong.. like someone has been in the cave. Batman is VERY alarmed by this but... something happens. maybe he gets hit behind the head? maybe something happens to Alfred? Unclear... because we switch scenes to...
Batwoman arrives at the Belfry.. and radios to Batman that something very BAD has happen.. there are pieces of Clayface all over the floor... then someone knocks her out in the back of the head.
then we see Batwoman being tossed to the floor outside her dad's cell.... a bunch of assassins are there.. they tell Jacob that Shiva said to do it in front of him... and they stab her through with a sword to the gut...
then we switch to Cassandra who has found Shiva... takes off her mask, and asks... why did you abandon me?
Shiva beats on Cassandra quite a bit... Cassandra isn't really even fighting back it seems.... C

This book continues to strengthen its case for my favorite Super Hero title running. This issue we the League moving their pieces around and slowly tearing at the fragile fabric of the Bat team! With great action, tension and pacing this is another fantastic chapter to the series defining arc for me!